This invention relates to an omnidirectional inertia switch which is uniformly activated by a given inertial loading regardless of the orientation of the inertial loading with respect to the switch.
Inertia switches which are operative in one mode or axis are well known. They generally comprise a mass connected to a spring aligned with the desired axis of operation. The mass is displaced against the spring by acceleration or deceleration inertial loads, and the displacement of the mass or tension created in the spring operates switch means or other means indicating that a given inertial load has been applied to the inertia switch.
The development of three dimensional inertia switches, however, has not heretofore reached a satisfactory level. A common approach to the problem of an inertia switch operable in three dimensions builds on the technology discussed in the foregoing paragraph, and consists of suspending a seismic mass on a plurality of springs arranged along the orthogonal X-- Y-- Z axes. Such inertia switches achieve fairly good results in response to inertial loads which are applied along one of the orthogonal axes; however, such devices do not achieve proper summation of forces in all directions, and therefore, true spherical or omnidirectional response is unattainable in such inertia switches.